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Bend, OR Real Estate News

By Alisha Alway Braatz
(Remax Integrity)
A lot of people have been anxiously awaiting today, as the United States ushers in a new President who has inspired hope for a better tomorrow in so many. From many of my clients who have been 'sitting on the fence', today signified the first of the year, and they are watching closely what will happen tomorrow. I understand President Obama's toned-down speech---but please oh please, we all cry---now is no time to back peddle. 2009 is still a bit hazy in the crystal ball. The great thing is, we the people, have the power to clarify the image. Make thoughtful decisions. Be real. Act with intention. Have hope. We can make this new era golden---or---continue on a slippery slope. This can be a dip, or a dive. We still have buyers along with some beautiful inventory. I challenge those who wou...
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By Fred Mannila
(Fred Real Estate Group)
Falling home prices are a great opportunity for move up buyers. Even though your home sale may be lower, the smaller loss at sale can be compensated by greater savings at purchase. If home prices dropped by 5%, here's what it could look like if you decided to trade up: (courtesy of Realtor Magazine and "The Shift" by Gary Keller.)OLD HOME PRICE = $200,000Sell at $190,000 = $10,000 lessNEW HOME PRICE = $400,000Buy at $380,000 = $20,000 savingsGet while the gettin's good! Interest rates are great and there's a ton of opportunity to buy a home with instant equity!
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By Dave Woodland, Your Bend, OR Friendly, Knowledgable Mortgage Professional
(Signet Mortgage)
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday! Interest rates remain in record territory. The market softened a bit on Friday, but this appears to be more of a light, holiday-trading effect rather than a trend.  Because of today’s holiday, the markets were closed early on Friday. And the inauguration on Tuesday will take things off norm until Wednesday this week.  With the Fed still purchasing Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS), I believe we’ll see the return to “normal” giving even slightly better rates than we have today, but this won’t last forever.  If you have been thinking about making a move personally on a purchase or refinance, I recommend you get the paperwork started now. Fed-backed MBS purchases now have surpassed $30B of a planned $200B program.  This has been in a two-week span so fa...
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By Dave Woodland, Your Bend, OR Friendly, Knowledgable Mortgage Professional
(Signet Mortgage)
Good morning! The global economy continues to plumb new records and some that are fairly old.  To wit, the Bank of England lowered its targeted rate to 1.5% last week from 2.0%.  It has never, since its 1694 creation in been below 2.0%, not through the Great Depression, or world wars, but it is there now.  Job loss hit a record low (high number 2.6M, but negative – see the chart below) making 2008 the worst year since 1945.  On the plus side, we are more than double the 1945 population of 133M people, but this is a very big job loss number and a lot of years have passed since the wartime industrial machine was deactivated in 1945.  I’m afraid the unemployment number, at 7.2% now, is bad but still in its early stages.  Of 2.6M jobs lost in 2008, 1.9M of them were lost in the 4th quarter....
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By Dave Woodland, Your Bend, OR Friendly, Knowledgable Mortgage Professional
(Signet Mortgage)
Happy New Year 2009! What a great way to start the year, with mortgage interest rates still right at 50-year lows and Mortgage-Backed Securities in demand with announced purchases just starting and an announced $500 billion still to come throughout the next weeks and months.  This is on top of the $200B they are using to invest in Commercial Loan Paper that will improve SBA loans. As we are all in goal setting mode, be bullish, knowing that financing is available and at rates that won’t hold you back!  An aspect of the Signet Mission Statement that helps us set our goals is a simple philosophy: “We want you, your family and friends to have the best financing experience of your life.”  Remember to make each of your goals SMART - we look forward to seeing Tina succeed!  As a refresher of...
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By Keller Williams, Central Oregon Realty
(Keller Williams Central Oregon Realty)
It is all in here in the book "The Shift".  Seriously!  This is the blueprint for taking your business on the road to success even in this challenging market. http://www.millionairesystems.com/msys/shiftmodels.html          What are the tactics outlined in SHIFT? •1.      Get Real, Get Right - Mindset and Action •2.      Re-Margin Your Business - Expense Management •3.      Do More with Less - Leverage •4.      Find the Motivated - Lead Generation •5.      Get to the Table - Lead Conversion •6.      Catch People in Your Web - Internet Lead Conversion •7.      Price Ahead of the Market - Seller Pricing Strategies •8.      Stand Out from the Competition - Seller Staging Strategies •9.      Create Urgency - Overcoming Buyer Reluctance •10.  Expand the Options - Creative Financing  •11.  Ma...
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By Keller Williams, Central Oregon Realty
(Keller Williams Central Oregon Realty)
Man O' Man have we ever had the best of press and the worst of press.  Like Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain is quoted as saying...."There Are Three Kinds Of Lies....Lies...Damned Lies And Statistics".  Seems like we have gone from being the most amazing place (in a positive light) to the most blah.blah blah awful...BS etc... All I can say is....Gimme a break already and get a clue!  To any of the negative talking heads and statisticians that have never even been to Bend yet feel compelled to write negative articles about Bend.  SHUT UP!  You are a clueless teal leaf interpreter! You can have your polluted air, your incessant traffic jams and horrific crime. People chose to live here in Central Oregon because it is truly incredible.  Yes it gets cold...wah..wah.. that said it is so worth i...
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By Keller Williams, Central Oregon Realty
(Keller Williams Central Oregon Realty)
Considering A Career Move? Before making your next career move, find out why so many agents are joining Keller Williams® Realty.  Keller Williams® agents have 24 hour access to the very finest streaming audio real estate training and information to keep updated with current industry trends for our clients benefit.  Check it out at  Keller Williams University  and KW Connect. Our online agent support is world class eagency.com. Real Estate Agents, check out the "Wealth Building Wednesdays"  and "Agent Mountain" to learn from  top agents and investment and business broadcasts.  Also listen to "Millionaire Mondays" to learn from some of the industries top producers affiliated with Keller Williams® Realty, an International company providing professional real estate services and current prod...
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By Keller Williams, Central Oregon Realty
(Keller Williams Central Oregon Realty)
    Huh???? That is the name of a Christmas CD I recieved this Christmas from my nephew Todd van Bronkhorst and it is pretty wild to say the very least.  His band is based in Seattle WA. and are called Substance W. It is a wild and crazy spin on classic holiday tunes and is pretty amazing.  Todd comes by his immense talent naturally as his parents are both music professors at UOP and are longstanding musicians with the Stockton symphony. What a cool surprise! It is available online at amazon.com at this link  http://www.amazon.com/Boiling-Vat-Adhesive-Xmas/dp/B001JQAJD2/ref=dm_ap_alb1/175-3563839-7010154 Enjoy!
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By Fred Mannila
(Fred Real Estate Group)
It's been a rough year for many people. The stock market roller coaster, the foreclosure crisis, the unemployment being at a record high. Times are tough for a lot of people but I believe that 2009 will bring change for many. I believe the real estate market "decline" will calm down near the end of 2009 but I also feel it will take a few years for home owners to recoup their lost equity. I also believe that the Obama administration will bring new and much needed energy and ideas to foreign and domestic issues. I feel that once our new president is sworn in on January 20th, the American people will begin to feel a real sense of change. I know it's all going to take some time and that things will not happen overnight. But I can feel that change is coming. Here's to a prosperous and health...
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By Mike Nichols, Real Estate Coach
(Smart Sales Solutions)
Before making your next career move, find out why so many agents are joining Keller Williams® Realty.  Keller Williams® agents have 24 hour access to the very finest streaming audio real estate training and information to keep updated with current industry trends for our clients benefit.  Check it out at  Keller Williams University  and KW Connect. Our online agent support is world class eagency.com. Real Estate Agents, check out the "Wealth Building Wednesdays"  and "Agent Mountain" to learn from  top agents and investment and business broadcasts.  Also listen to "Millionaire Mondays" to learn from some of the industries top producers affiliated with Keller Williams® Realty, an International company providing professional real estate services and current productive up to date training ...
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By Keller Williams, Central Oregon Realty
(Keller Williams Central Oregon Realty)
  Agents,   Here is a free holiday gift to help you and your business in 2009 and on down the road. http://www.baylor.edu/business/kellercenter/index.php?id=59619   I also suggest that you get a copy of the book "The Shift" at www.millionairesystems.com Happy holidays and to your success!
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By Dave Woodland, Your Bend, OR Friendly, Knowledgable Mortgage Professional
(Signet Mortgage)
Why does today's proposed bailout loan to Chrysler and GM cause interest rates to turn to the worse?  There are a couple of reasons.  First, the money that will be used to lend to the auto companies is coming right out of the money that otherwise had been set aside to help mortgage backed securities.  More money for them (Jeep and Cadillac) means less money for us (homeowners.)  Second, there is always a bit of a stock market rally when corporate earnings get a boost.  While this is relatively small ($13 Billion is small now???) and it is more likely just greasing the skids to allow a Chapter 11 bankruptcy of these mega corporations and icons, it still is a boost to the corporate world.  So money flows out of bonds and into stocks.   We see that much more dramatically in Treasuries than...
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By Dave Woodland, Your Bend, OR Friendly, Knowledgable Mortgage Professional
(Signet Mortgage)
Tuesday the Fed made an historic announcement that their Open Market Committee dropped the target for the Fed Funds rate down to a range of 0.0% to 0.25%.  The Fed Target has never before been this low.  Mortgage Backed Securities are right now trading very high (good for lower long-term interest rates). Of great interest in the announcement are two things perhaps even more important than the rate drop itself.  First, there is some very direct language about diminishing inflationary pressures.  In fact, the announcement says that "the Committee expects inflation to moderate further in coming quarters."  The second telling comment is that the Fed is not satisfied with rate drops and actions to date as enough to move the economy where it needs to go.  The release says the Fed "will employ...
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By Dave Woodland, Your Bend, OR Friendly, Knowledgable Mortgage Professional
(Signet Mortgage)
Hope your day becomes sunny and bright.  Mortgage rates certainly are sunny and bright.  We are seeing the range of rates for various projects fall on both sides of the 5.0% point now.  Rates are at a multi-year low close to 50 year lows in fact!  (See the charts below.)  And Signet has relationships with many residential and commercial lenders that are ready, willing and able to lend.  The doors are open! The outlook for Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) also continues to be sunny and bright.  Remember that there are two key components that drive the long-term interest rates, inflation and supply-and-demand for MBS in the secondary market.  We will have more news about the economy and its effect on inflation this week.  With the economic news continuing to show recession inputs, the fea...
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By Cheri Smith
(Total Property Resources)
I'm hoping this post will change the way you think about manufactured homes. For most of us, if we're honest with ourselves, the term conjures up images of trailer parks or low income neighborhoods. Since manufactured homes cost much less to build than stick-built or framed houses, that's largely true. Manufactured homes serve a great purpose and fill a need for affordable housing, allowing more people to experience the benefits of home ownership. A manufactured home, also called a prefab home or kit home, is simply a home that is built off-site, usually in a factory, and shipped to the building site in a nearly completed state. I think their history is fascinating. It took awhile for prefab houses to catch on in the United States. They were being built in Europe in the 1600's. During t...
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By Cheri Smith
(Total Property Resources)
The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to a national average 5.17% this week, the lowest level since Freddie Mac began its weekly rate survey in 1971. Mortgage rates are incredibly low right now but will they stay that way? Well, it depends on who you ask. According to Bankrate analysts, more than 2/3 of analysts believe rates will fall during the next 35-45 days. Steadily dropping interest rates are pushing more people to apply for mortgages and to refinance existing home loans. According to MarketWatch.com, applications to refinance existing mortgages accounted for 76.9% of all filings last week. When the real estate market was great, many home buyers took out ARMs, thinking they would sell in a couple of years and make a pretty penny. Many of those homeowners are now realizin...
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By Keller Williams, Central Oregon Realty
(Keller Williams Central Oregon Realty)
    Yeah, Yeah..... I know.   Reality has set in and it kinda stinks. Time to get back to work (HARD) and back to the basics is sure not as fun as getting paid pretty well just to show up.  What can I say?  This is a market that requires true skill, lead generation, lead conversion and excellent followup and customer service.  Get used to it as it will likely be the flavor of the day for many years to come.  I am reminded of Henry Ford who when marketing the Model T said..."You can have it in any color you want just so long as it is black".  My fellow Realtors, the feeding frenzy we had gorged ourselves at has turned into a market where the rising tide does not float all boats and where we really do need to put in alot of time and hours and essentially work 3 times as diligently for 1/3...
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By Keller Williams, Central Oregon Realty
(Keller Williams Central Oregon Realty)
It's about time too! The forecast is calling for Bend and CO to get really really cold!  Record setting cold.  It is sure nice to see the Cascades with a fresh covering of snow and to know that there is plenty more on the way.  Mt. Bachelor is anxious to open and we are overdue to hit the slopes. The sound of studded snowtires crunching along on the asphalt is a song to my ears as it lets us know that one of the funnest and most beautiful times of the year is upon us. Happy and Safe Holidays To All! For winter lovers here are some links to Bachelor and more.   ·                                 MtBachelor.com ·                                 BendSkiClub.org ·                                 TumaloLanglauf.com ·                                 NWSkiers.org ·                              ...
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By Team Birtola High Desert Realty
(Team Birtola High Desert Realty)
What Areas in Central Oregon Can We Short Sale Properties In? When it comes to short sales and what areas or cities we cover, it is the same as our traditional sales. We cover the entire Central Oregon area. We have agents that cover Bend OR, Redmond OR,Sisters OR,La Pine OR and Sunriver OR and the surrounding areas. So if a short sale is the next step for you, a friend, or family member, and they are located anywhere in Central Oregon, then do contact me. Our short sale negotiation team covers the entire Central Oregon area and if you are anywhere other than the these cities we can refer you to the right person. We can short sale all residential properties. Whether it is a condo, single family residence, or residential multi unit property, we can take care of it. The housing market is ...
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